1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a joint for adhesively connecting tube members, and more specifically to the method of applying an adhesive tape to the end of one tube, heating the end of the other tube, telescoping the ends of the tubes, and allowing the adhesive to spread and fill the radial clearance between the tubes, heating the telescoped joint to cure and set the adhesive.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the fabrication of tube joints employing adhesive as a sealing medium it has been customary to shape or form one tube element relative to the other. This has been necessary to insure the integrity of the joint and to provide a leak-free joint over a wide range of tolerances. This is especially true when the tube ends to be joined are misaligned and the radial clearance between the tube is not maintained which may cause a wiping away of the adhesive and some portions of the joint. To avoid leaks in these incidents it has been customary, as for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,124,874 -- Woolley and 3,068,563 -- Reverman, to crimp or form beads to shape or resize the tube members after they are telescoped together. This shaping or forming process requires a substantial investment in manufacturing equipment and the additional time necessary to carry out the operation. In the fabrication of heat exchange assemblies including many passes and reverse turns, several joints may be located in close proximity to each other, thus making the shaping and forming operations impractical in that the space requirements are not available for the crimping and/or resizing operations.